Monday, April 23, 2012

As general election begins to take shape, Romney campaign – true to form – substitutes campaign cash for non-existent grassroots organization

“A deep organization like the one Romney has built in Michigan in two election cycles, including a hard-fought primary this year, is going to be key if he hopes to win a state that hasn’t supported a Republican presidential contender since George Bush in 1988.” – Detroit Free Press, 4/16/12

LANSING, MI – As the general election begins to take shape, press accounts this week took the lay of the land in Michigan. While there is little dispute that the Obama campaign has a much more robust local grassroots presence, some pundits and Romney supporters sought to boost their candidate’s standing in Michigan, touting a ‘deep organization’ that includes wealthy campaign contributors and longstanding ties to the Republican establishment. Curious, the Michigan Democratic Party took a look at that organization this week, and this is what we found:

Mitt Romney’s grassroots campaign operation, April 20, 2012:

“Obama already has eight ‘regional grassroots offices’ in Michigan, with plans to expand to a dozen in the coming weeks. Mitt Romney, by contrast, apparently shut down his Michigan office soon after he won the primary on February 28th. A call to Romney’s press office to arrange a visit to a field office in Michigan produces only puzzlement. ‘In Michigan?’ a bewildered spokeswoman tells me. ‘We obviously had one. I don’t even know if I still have the address.’” [Rolling Stone, 3/29/12]

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer issued the following statement:

“Michiganders will never forget that Mitt Romney turned his back on our state when we were laid low, suggesting that the auto industry ‘go bankrupt,’ and there’s not a so-called ‘deep organization’ in the world that can change that fact. For all of Governor Romney’s fundraising and Republican establishment support, the best he could do in Michigan was to eke out a three-point victory over a deeply flawed and underfunded primary opponent – and his campaign has since pulled up stakes. No, Governor Romney will not be enjoying any sort of ‘home field advantage’ in Michigan, any more than the Colts would in Baltimore or Art Modell’s Ravens would in Cleveland. In fact, I’d suggest a famous photo of another NFL venue says it all about Mitt Romney’s campaign in Michigan: nobody’s home.”

A visual approximation of Mitt Romney’s “Deep Organization” in Michigan.